From the moment The Antlers landed in Lisbon, Portugal, for a European tour last fall, the band limped from one crisis to another: lost luggage, bouts of illness, a van that kept breaking down.

Logistical headaches aside, the Brooklyn, N.Y., trio was emotionally drained as it toured behind the devastating material of its last two studio LPs, 2009's "Hospice" and 2011's "Burst Apart."

"We we're experiencing extreme exhaustion, like a personal and physical bottoming out," frontman Peter Silberman said in an interview last week.

So, when Silberman and his bandmates -- multi-instrumentalist Darby Cicci and drummer Michael Lerner -- returned to the United States, it was time for a vacation: not just from touring, but from the dark subject matter the group had explored on stage night after night.

"Undersea" (Anti-) The Antlers latest EP, is the sonic rendering of the band's beachfront escape. Released earlier this summer, the four-track album is awash in gushing synthesizers, drifting guitars and reverberating beats -- a collection of entrancing lullabies that lulls the listener into a sub-aquatic reverie.

"There's something about the way you're mind starts to drift and expand when you're looking at the water; it's calming," said Silberman, who performs with The Antlers at Center Church on the Green in New Haven on Sunday, Sept. 23. "That played into the making of `Undersea.' "

The EP is the latest in a current of critically-acclaimed records from The Antlers, which began as the bedroom project of Silberman, a native of Westchester County, N.Y., in 2006.

"Hospice," the band's landmark album, tells the story of troubled relationship between a hospital worker and a terminally ill patient. "Burst Apart," the follow-up to "Hospice," delves into difficult experiences amid replaying images of broken wings and missing teeth.

As it stands, "Undersea" is a thematic course change.

"It's not a bloodletting; it's more meditative. It's thinking about where you are in your life and the way you deal with things that are overwhelming," Silberman added.

The lyrics reflect that thinking. On the twinkling, eight-minute epic "Endless Ladder," the singer croons, "If I'm really here now / In a place and time / Does someone look just like me on the other side?"

"Undersea" will provide for "a wider range of intensity" in The Antlers' live performances, Silberman noted. That being said, interweaving the uplifting tracks of "Undersea" into the band's setlist might take a few adjustments.

"You can't go from a super dark song about cancer to a song about swimming," he joked.

Silberman said the band is looking forward to playing the songs from "Undersea" on its upcoming tour, which will include two weeks worth of dates across North America. Port St. Willow, the solo project of Nick Principe (Silberman's childhood friend and a fellow Westchester, N.Y., native), will be the opening act on the tour.

As for the emotional atmosphere of The Antlers' next record, it all depends on "what state of mind we're in," Silberman said. "Hospice" and "Burst Apart" were based on tumultous experiences, while "Undersea" was recorded during a time of reflection and recovery.

"I think of everything as a bridge to the next thing," Silberman said. "We could go in a new direction or it could be the summation of everything, contextualized into an entirely new environment."